August 2008 Archives

It does not matter how you look at it, there's always an end and a beginning. In this situation, my summer break is going to end and my senior year will begin in 4 short days. This transition is sinking in pretty deep for me, especially in my family. My sister moved back to Salem State yesterday, and my brother, who's a freshmen, will move to Salem State tomorrow. My youngest brother had his first day of junior year in high school on Thursday. These three events were like big reminders for me, like an alarm clock that goes off around 9am in the morning (which is going to happen in 3 minutes). They were reminders that my possible last year of college is coming up pretty soon. I'm sitting here on my bed with amazement and a little bit of sadness. This really might be my last year seeing all of my Exercise Physiology buddies. Throughout the years, I've had great memories with my EP buds ranging from afternoon sessions at the Kinesiology labs, "venting" in Dynamics of Interpersonal Relationships, having fun in Introduction to Data Analysis, or just plain hanging out in the commuter room. I'm definitely planning to add more memories to the unerasable cache in my noggin before I (hopefully) cross the stage and receive my diploma.

Do you remember your senior year in high school? It was the year when you were finally called an upperclassman, the big dog, the leaders of the school, or whatever you call it now. All the freshmens in UMass-Lowell should know how it feels. Now, the class of 2013, who were all big time big shots in their high schools are now back to square one: freshmens. Don't worry! Being a freshman here is a HUGE difference than being a freshman in high school. In high school, everyone automatically knows you're a freshman due to the young face, height, and inability to find your class in the maze-like halls. In college, no one will know who you are. Heck, if I ever walked by you, you probably think I'm a freshman due to the young face... Ha! That was a joke. No matter if you had a great or horrible time in high school, college is an absolutely clean slate. You have the decision to take that slate and write your story the way you want it to be.

So I have a challenge for all freshmen in UML. Can you take the slate, start new, and finish with flying colors? Can you look at every supposed "obstacle" and fight through it and not break a sweat? (I wrote something about these so-called obstacles from one of my past blogs. You should read it). From my perseptive, I'm getting close to finishing my story on that slate and I can definitely tell you that I'm never going to stop writing it.

Any questions, comments, problems, lawsuits? You can email me at Christian_Tiongson@student.uml.edu.

Yesterday, the 2008 Summer Olympics at Beijing, China officially came to an end with a beautiful display of fireworks, music, dancing, acting, and other artistic and memorable performances. As I sat there watching the closing memories, I looked back at the major highlights of the Olympics, such as Michael Phelps' 8 Gold Medals, Nastia Liukin's 5 Medals in Gymnastics, Usain Bolt's ridicious 3 World Records and 3 Gold Medals in Track and Field, the U.S. Redeem Team's Gold Medal, and the Men's Volleyball Gold Medal. Obviously, there are tons of other great moments that I didn't mention. Even if the medal count, breaking world records, and being number one in the world seems to be the major points of the summer games, I do believe that unity and peace was the overall theme.

In almost every event, each country respected each other, the sport, the officials, and their audience. It seemed like the tensions between rival countries did not exist at all. For example, look at the war in the country of Georgia with Russia. During the Olympics, Russia bombard and invaded Georgia with brutal force. The world watched on the edge of their seat to see how this would effect some sporting events where Georgians and Russians compete against each other. The conflict didn't stop Russia's Natalia Paderina and Georgia's Nino Salukvadze from embracing each other at the medal ceremony for the 10m air rifle event. Even when there is tension between the countries, their athletes showed the world what matters most: peace and togetherness.

Now the games are over. Every single athlete is back to his or her country. What now? Will the Olympic spirit die? Will we all fall back to kill each other? Why can't we keep the Olympic Spirit going? How come we can't live in peace from now on?

If we lived life in harmony with each other like we did in the Olympics, no one will die from gunfire, no one will cry when their love one is missing in combat, and no one will suffer. Right now, even after the Olympics brought us back together, we are far away from being together as one.

It's been 4 days... yes 4 days since the event. I'm still here in this lonely place. The sky is bright blue, the temperature is rising. I haven't seen civilization since the event. I've eaten very little... WHEN IS IT GOING TO END?

Okay... away from the deserted island / airplane crash scenario. Really, I'm doing fine. The swelling is going down, but there's still enough to make me feel sick. The extraction areas throb here and there, and headaches go on and off. But everyday, I feel like I'm 10%+ better than the day before. Today, I can actually close my mouth. The swelling was large enough to actually stop me from closing my mouth. Brushing has been very difficult, and my breath stinks from gauze, dried up blonde, and salt from salt/warm water gargles. I'm actually scheduled to go back to work tomorrow but I don't think I'm well enough to even go. Seriously, I can't even get a full CLEAR sentence out. It really stinks :-(

I'm looking to be alright by this Tuesday. I won't be 100% but I'll be alright to work, talk, breathe, and eat regularly.

After months of pain in the back of my mouth and tons of waiting, the my wisdom teeth surgery finally came. Obviously, I was a bit nervous before the 8:15am "show," because I never had any type of surgery that involves opening a part of me up. Because I knew I was going to be a little nervous before the procedure, I created a new playlist in my iPod that had tons of great acoustic guitar music. Like I said before in all of my blogs, I love music, and music always calms me down. So basically, I calmed my nerves down in the waiting room.

Here's the general breakdown of my 45 minute procedure:

8:15am - the nurse called my name to come into the room (and she had a face mask on already... nice way to calm someone's nerves).

8:25am - the nurse goes over what's going on, tells me that I can keep my iPod on, and the surgeon applied 8 novacaine shots into my gums. Seriously I think it was the worse part of the procedure because it was the only time I felt pain from those long needles.

8:35am - the novacaine's effect is awesome... I can't even feel my face. The surgerical team started working on my left side of the mouth, drilling my wisdom teeth into different pieces for easy removal. They also stitched me up.

8:50am - the other side was done. Obviously, I can still feel the pressure of the surgeon removing my teeth but that's about it.

9:00am - the surgeon tells me that the procedure is done. And was I surprised! I thought it would take longer than that, but since the surgeon is pretty good at making this surgerical procedure quick and painless, I was out of the office around 9:10am.

Basically the whole day, my face swelled up, and my jaw is throbbing. Every hour to an hour and a half, I changed my gauze that was placed in my mouth to stop the bleed. I also iced my face every 20 minutes to reduce brusing and more swelling. The instructions go on and on, but right now I'm feel great. I do have a little headache and I'm still swollen like a chipmunk, but everyhing is alright. All of my coworkers at Hallmark are relieved that everything went pretty good - thanks girls and guy for your support!

I'm relieved that those stupid teeth are out. They were bothering the crap out of me for the whole year. Luckily, my procedure was easy and does not require more complicated stuff like removing parts of other teeth due to the impact of the wisdoms. Before I let you go, here's a fact: For every familial generation, the mouth gets smaller and smaller. Since its gettings smaller, there are lest space for the wisdom teeth to emerge. This is why the wisdoms impact the back of your other teeth. If the wisdom teeth aren't removed, other teeth might decay or other medical problems may exist due to it.

I'm looking at my calendar, and there are about two weeks left of August. That means the fall semester is coming up (way too) fast.

For new commuter students, there's a lot of things you have to expect on the first few weeks of classes:

1) GET YOUR PARKING PERMIT! This is the most important thing to get before first day of classes! The permit is a decal that states that you are a commuter student and you have the authority to park in most parking lots. If you do not have the permit on the first day, you will get a UML Police Parking Ticket, or what the commuters call the infamous "Orange Envelope." So please get one as soon as possible! To order a permit online, please go to this website: parking.uml.edu

2) The parking lots in UMass-Lowell will be filled quickly and traffic will be a "I-93 highway crawl." This is probably due to students trying to find the large parking lots, and other students still moving into their dorms. From what I heard from other students, the parking lot right next to Sheehy Hall was removed and turned into a green spot (and I still don't know why). So traffic will be tighter than usual and parking spots will be harder to find. I would definitely leave your house earlier than planned. Try to plan out your route in advance by driving to UML before move-in day so you can get accustomed to where to go, so the first day vehicle jam won't be a major surprise to you.

3) Get your vehicles checked by your mechanic before you start driving to school everyday. It is a good idea to get your brakes fixed, check your engine light, tires, and other car stuff. This step is basically a time to prevent any future breakdowns during the school semester. Trust me, you don't want to miss classes because your car fails to start in the morning! When the semester moves on into October, it is good to think about winterizing your car, because slippery roads are dangerous.

4) Talking about breakdowns and bad weather, sometimes you may get stranded in UML. It's a good idea to have extra clothing in the car, some toothpaste, a toothbrush, and other essentials that will help you through the night. Please don't sleep in the car with the engine on... there will be carbon monoxide build up and that's deadly! If you know a friend that has a dorm, sleep over there instead. Trust me, especially in the winter, the car freezes up.

5) Know the gas stations around the area. Fortunately, UML South has a gas station right next to it. The prices there are fairly inexpensive compared to others in the area. But it's a good idea to fill up before you leave your house. I created a link from Google Maps that shows all the gas stations around Lowell: Google Maps: Gas Stations in Lowell

6) Here's a tip about parking again: Please don't create your own parking space. This is the reason why commuters get ticked off. Some people tend to park in places that aren't considered as spaces at all, or some are stupid enough to park on a handicap space when they aren't handicapped! Please remember this: as long as you park in an area that says that you are allowed to park there, and your vehicle is between the white solid lines, you will be fine!

Well those are the basic points for the first few weeks of classes. There are probably other points that I did not go over, but as soon as I think of others, I'll re-edit this blog.

Please ask questions if you are confused about anything about the commuter life. I will be a senior this fall and I think I know my way around as a commuter :-)

If you do have questions, you can email me: christian_tiongson@student.uml.edu

Al was a one-of-a-kind guy. If you spend one day with him, you'll probably say the following: he's tall, he's funny, he's goofy, he's crazy, etc. etc. He is the "dood" that just makes you laugh all the time. Seriously, most of my memories I had at Malden Catholic High School involved a little bit of Peters... oh I mean "P Money" here and there... If you were part of the class of 2005, you know what I mean.

I remember one time during Honor Chemistry in Sophomore or Junior year. Our teacher had this device that supposed to decrease pressure or something like that... I don't know. Peters raised his hand and asked this question out of humor: "If you put a frog in there, will the frog inflate and float around in the ball?" Of course, the teacher was a serious "dood" so he thought Alex was an idiot. Honestly, the whole class would've cracked up laughing to the floor, but since that teacher would give pink slips like crazy, we just kept it to ourselves. Alex was ALWAYS a funny guy and the center of attention in every class I had with him, even if what he did landed him in detention with the vice principal. Oh man, I remember that shout he had: "DOOOOOOWwwwEEEEPPPPP!!!!!!" That seriously was the MC call, shout, or whatever you called it.

Even if I never "chilled" with him out of school, he was still considered a friend to me in Malden Catholic. When I heard that he passed away, I was completely shocked. Come on, it's Alex "P Money" Peters. He is like a wall. He is the center of attention. He is unstoppable. How can that be? But I guess even the strongest person can't avoid death.

During the funeral, I can't stop thinking about all the "P Money" memories at Malden Catholic. It finally hit me deep that he's no longer on this Earth, but in a better place with God. The pastor reminded us that his death is not the end, but a new beginning of an eternal life. Death was like a stage in life. You live, you die, and you live again.

This blog is for you, P Money. Thanks for making me laugh and smile during my time at Malden Catholic. Rest in Peace, dood.

26 is the magic number. Unlike, baseball with its magic number, the magic number I'm talking about decreases everyday... 25...24...23... and so on. To tell you the truth, I'm looking forward to my first day back. I get to see my buddies who I basically lost contact with the whole summer, catch-up with some cool professors, and feel like I have a mission again. For the whole summer, it felt like I did not have a mission or a major plan or thing to do. Sure, I worked, coached baseball, and stuff, but my summer was very disorganized, not well-planned, and not as memorable as I would have liked. Out of a scale of 1-10, I would rate my summer a 4 or a 5. This is probably due to the remnants of past problems that continued to poke me here and there. As much as I like to put stuff in the past, sometime always triggers me.

Look at this analogy. Picture a man walking down the beach along the ocean. Everyday that passes, a shell is picked up and placed in a bag. Day after day, the man continues to pick up shell after shell. Weeks passed, and the bag gets heavier and heavier. One day, the load was too heavy and the bag rips and shells slowly fall out of the bag. Everyday after the bag rips, the bag gets lighter and lighter. The man finally feels less burden by the load. As soon as the the bag empties, something pokes your shoulder - maybe its the wind, or raindrops, or something. The man turns around, and looks at the mess. Thinking its not such a big deal, the man continues to walk. But even when the man walks, he still gets those pokes from the wind, or something. Maybe that's the artistic way of saying how I feel about the summer so far.

Plus there's tons of other stuff that I haven't done for my senior year - paper work, plans for after senior year, and stuff to get to what I probably want to do for the rest of my life. The word that is emphasized in the last sentence is probably. Every day that number decreases, I become more uncertain to what I want to do after I graduate college. DPT School? CSCS? EP? What is my path? Seriously, I've tried hard to carve a path this summer but I still haven't found what I was looking for. I don't know. Maybe I'm not motivated? I just don't want to be a no-one after college. Or the guy who worked his "butt" off to achieve nothing. Maybe I'm not the only one that feels like he or she doesn't know what he or she wants to do.

Well, that's enough of my talk. Enough of this rambling. I'm going to leave this post with a thought:

________________________________________________P.S.- Because of the summer is whining down to a pulp, I'm going to blog more about my commuter experience, so all perspective commuter students know what's coming up! If you are a commuter student and you need some questions answered, you can email me: christian_tiongson@student.uml.edu or look further in my blog about my commuter experience.

There are many ways to say that Jason Bay, the former Pittsburg Pirate and new Red Sox player is freakin' great! Bay gave Red Sox Nation new life and a new feel of a championship caliber team. He showed us that we don't need a hot-shot hall of fame slugger to win some games. He is the new ticket for the playoffs. The Sox now have more speed on the bases (triple in extra innings during his first game as a sox), a better defensive player (game saving sliding catch in left field and an outfield assist), and a dangerous offensive lineup (hitting .328 so far with 4 hits, 1 HR, and racking up 6 runs in 3 games). Sure, Bay is no Manny Ramirez, but he has a good enough bat, glove, and speed to make him an all around player. Honestly, he is better defensively than Manny. Manny does have a "gun" from left field, but Bay is not a lazy player. He'll sacrifice his body for the ball like a true outfielder.

Mr. Jason Bay, you deserve a pat on the back for giving the Red Sox and its fans a new life. We felt dead through the crap Manny has put us through. It felt like we were in a swamp in Manny's backyard. Now we're out of that swamp and fighting for the ultimate goal - a World Series win. Thanks for showing us that you are a great baseball player! Fight on!

Well, you can finally say that Manny is gone. It's now all "post-Manny." We also lost Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss. All we got from the trade is Jason Bay from the Pirates. I can tell you this, he is not a Manny Ramirez. So that can mean both good or bad. For "Good," Bay will be hustling down the baselines all the time. He also will play a better outfield. I think he won't make a fuss in the clubhouse either. The "Bad" is that Bay can't hit like Manny Ramirez. He also probably can't entertain us that much like Manny.

I was listening through my iPod and I found a song that matches this situation. The name of the song is "I'm Gonna Find Another You" by John Mayer. I'm going to tweak the lyrics a little to make this song for Manny and not a lover, ha ha.

It's really overYou made your standYou got us crying.It was your planBut when our loneliness is through, We're gonna find another youYou take your sweatersYou take your timeYou might have your reasons, but you will never have our rhymesSox gonna swing their way away from the bluesWe're gonna find another you

When you were our slugger, No one else would doIf I'm forced to find another, I hope he doesn't act like you.Yeah and he's nicer too, yeah.

So go on MannyMake your little get awayMy Sox pride will keep me companyAnd you just gave yours all awayNow I'm gonna dress myself for twoOne's for me and one's for someone newI'm gonna do somethings you wouldn't let me doOh we're gonna find another you...

It's funny how that song just fits right in. The Sox said that they have to let that trade go, put it in their pockets and forget about it. It's time to start with a new player and a new approach. The Bay Era has begun!